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Topic: Come See Yosemite, May 14-21, 2017 (Read 19808 times)

I started packing our suitcases today. We are having autumn here in Australia and days are getting short. Can't wait to be in USA for summer again. We are flying to LA 8th of May. Hopefully we find some friendly Mexican in Corona to service our RV and after that we are on the road to Yosemite.looks like Steve have some drama with the road colaps, but all is working out well after all.Looking forward to see you soon.Jan and Olga

It's official. I got a similar notification as the one Pam & Kevin posted above. Big Oak Flat Road to reopen on May 1st! Thanks to all who stuck with us through this process. See you all in Yosemite. I will post some updates soon.

The summary if you don't want to look it up is:Closed Monday, May 15, from 9 pm to Tuesday, May 16, at 5 am. On May 16, expect 15-minute delays from 5 am to 5 pm. No other closures or delays are currently planned. In other words, things should be fine but expect some delays.

I had mentioned in an earlier post that there is a lot of construction going on in the park which is not expected to be completed until the end of the month. Much of the park is currently one-way traffic only which is causing traffic to go from Lower Falls to El Cap to get to Happy Isles for example. It slows things down and you just have to be patient.

Another wrench in the works is the flooding that we are currently experiencing. Yesterday afternoon at 2:00 pm the water at Pohono Bridge was at 10.26 ft, down from over 11 ft at midnight. Flood stage for the river is 10 ft so they are watching it closely and closing areas based on the water. Swinging Bridge was closed yesterday but will probably be back open today. It is anticipated that the water will continue to decrease over the next week. We are anticipating some rain in the valley and snow on the mountains this next week that could possibly have an impact on the water level.

It appears that everything is on track for our rally next week. I checked in with the park and confirmed everyone's reservation. It looks like we may have had one cancellation. I have heard nothing from them personally, but the park shows their reservation as cancelled. I sent them a PM, but also got no response. Nonetheless, we are on schedule for a great rally. Looks like we will be 8 coaches total. I will be arriving a day early (on the 13th), just to make sure everything goes smoothly. We will have a meet and greet happy hour on Sunday afternoon, once everyone is settled. Probably 4:30 or 5:00pm. Location to be determined. The extended weather forecasts show sunny to partly cloudy conditions all week. Temps in the low 70's during the day and low 40's at night. No rain is forecast. It appears that the road closure issue is resolved for the most part. The information posted above (by UTTransplant) is the latest info. Since we will be traveling into the park on weekdays, traffic should be lighter. The only item of note is that on Monday evening, the 15th, we will all need to be out of the park by 9:00pm for a one night road closure. If anyone has any questions for me, let me know. Look forward to seeing all of you a week from today.

One more update. For those wanting to check out things to do in advance, the link below is an excellent resource for information about things to do in Yosemite. The section on hiking gives great information about the various hikes in and around Yosemite.

Nice. Flight in Delta was fine and emigration officers did not detain us this time. maybe they realize now that we are visiting country and will spent money instead steeling americans jobs. That made me happy. My RV Phoebe started after 10 months perfectly after first key turn. All is working and we are slowly heading for Yosemite Rally. I am not sure how many days this trip will take us. We will be stopping somewhere for oil change. Hope that some of the truck stops will be able to do this for us on spot with delay.See you all soonJan and Olga Stiskala

Jean, I certainly hope you are right. Glacier Point is one of my favorite places and I assumed the road wouldn't be open until sometime after our rally was over, but I remained hopeful. This is great news.

A note about driving directions. On the website for Yosemite Pines, under our location and directions from Southern California, there is a warning not to take CA HWY 49 as mapquest and other navigation systems recommend. CA SR 49 is not a suitable road for RV's. I can attest to that. I would not recommend taking CA SR 49. I have taken the alternate route recommended on their website and it is fine. If you need any assistance with directions, send me a PM. See you all on Sunday!

If you are planning to go to Glacier Point bring extra clothing with you. I was there yesterday and there is still a lot of snow. We hit low clouds, mist and occasional rain. When the clouds shifted the views of the valley were spectacular. We never did get a full view of Half Dome!

We stopped on our way up at the trailhead for the Taft and Sentinel Trails. There is still 3-1/2 to 4 feet of snow and the trail boundaries are not marked.

So excited for all of you that are going to be able to enjoy this fantastic National Treasure!

Just do whatever's necessary to get from where you are to CA120 then follow it as directed to Old Highway 120 and all will be well. Leave a little extra time for the last 20 or so miles to allow for climbing about 2000+ feet and negotiating the twisty parts. The road is plenty wide and your expert drivers will have no probs.

Look forward to seeing you all again!

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Don and Mary Ann (Pelicanlady) NesbittCary, NC2007 Fleetwood Excursion 40X2012 Jeep GC Overland 4x4 Hemi ToadLife is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the number of moments that take our breath away!

Here is our first post of a few photos. The weather is absolutely perfect! The early arrivals got together for a nice dinner at a local diner. Food was great, company was even better. After dinner we all went back to Jan & Olga's motorhome to enjoy some TimTam cookies from Australia for dessert. Nothing like Framily! Happy mother's day to all the mom's on the forum!

Last night's happy hour set the tone for the rally! Lots of laughter, snacks, directions, information and an open schedule!

Ken Kuch won "Yosemite Sam" for his diagnosis of Steve's electrical inverter problem. Heard they spent today on the fix!

Terry missed Happy hour due to his Sunday Formula one race. Today I followed every one of Steve's directions and we saw Bridal Veil Falls, Yosemite Falls , millions of tourists. Terry was nearly hit by a fast driving tourist while in a crosswalk, whew! We were about to give up at Yosemite Village as no parking spaces were available but I navigated Terry back around the loop in stop and go traffic to the "Ahwahee Hotel." where again no parking places were available. But suddenly a car in front of us pulled out and we had a place to park very near the hotel. So we entered and decided to have lunch. Got a pager and were told we had a 40 minute wait. While waiting we ran into Bill and Corrine and spent a delightful afternoon in front of the big lovely fireplace. Finally we were seated for lunch. Beautiful view, good food , great service. A delightful day. It rained all the way home!

Hope others have good enough internet to post their activities as the rain ruined postponed Happy hour until a group ventured out to a local old bar. They can tell that story!